Handgun support

ABSTRACT

A HANDGUN SUPPORT IS PROVIDED WITH A SADDLE MEMBER WITHIN WHICH IS CRADLED A GUN GRIP WHILE A STEADY REST IS RIGIDLY SUPPORTED FORWARD OF THE SADDLE TO ENGAGE THE GUN IMMEDIATELY FORWARD OF THE TRIGGER GUARD. THE OPERATOR&#39;&#39;S HAND THEN GRASPS THE GUN GRIP AND SADDLE TO PROVIDE AN INTERLOCKING OF THE GUN AND SUPPORT.

Oct. 5, 1971 R. J. cAsuLL 3,609,902

' HANDGUN SUPPORT Filed March 17, 1970 RICHARD J. CASULL ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent Olfice 3,6@9,9il2 Patented Oct. 5, 1971 3,609,902 HANDGUNSUPPORT Richard J. Casull, 327 Del Mar Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84109Filed Mar. 17, 1970, Ser. No. 20,373 Int. Cl. F41c 23/00 U.S. C]. 4272Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A handgun support is provided with asaddle member within which is cradled a gun grip while a steady rest isrigidly supported forward of the saddle to engage the gun immediatelyforward of the trigger guard. The operators hand then grasps the gungrip and saddle to provide an interlocking of the gun and support.

This invention relates generally to a support device, and moreparticularly, supporting means especially designed to be used inconnection with pistols or revolvers in order to steady the handgun toprovide shooting accuracy approaching that available with a long gunsuch as a carbine.

Detachable stocks or extension devices for use with handguns are wellknown. However, in most such prior known cases each such device wasdesigned for use with a single particular handgun and in addition wasmore or less aflixed to the gun in a rigid manner at one or more points.This attachment usually involved the use of screw clamp devices andoften even included modification of one or more portions of the gun topermit a rigid attachment of the support device thereto. Moreover, inmany of the prior known devices an unnatural grip was provided to theuser in view of the manner of connecting the support member to the gun.

The present invention overcomes many of the shortcomings of the knowndevices by providing a handgun support having no rigid connection withthe pistol or revolver used therewith, yet insures a most steadyplacement of the gun. In using the instant device any one of severalwell known types of pistols and revolvers may be instantly combined withthe support member without the use of any tools or the manipulation ofany fastening components, it being understood that the gun is merelyseated within a saddle member of the device and moved to nestle thelower forward portion of the receiver in the area immediately forward ofthe trigger guard within a forward steady rest. In this manner thehandgun is supported in a natural position and it is thereafter engagedby the user such that the hand retains the pistol stock within thesupport saddle in a most natural manner while providing the onlyretaining means between the handgun and support device. Additionallythere is no requirement for any modification of the handgun in order toaccept the support device.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is toprovide an improved handgun support adaptable for use with both pistolsand revolvers and which requires no modification of the handgun andinvolves no mechanical connection between the support device andhandgun.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a handgunsupport device including a saddle member within which is nestled thehand grip of the gun and a forward steady rest for engaging the receiverin the area immediately forward of the trigger guard whereby the handgunis retained in this position solely by means of the fingers of theoperator during use thereof.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a handgunsupporting device having a first element loosely engageable with thehandgrip of the gun and a second member disposed forward of the triggerguard for loosely engaging the gun in that area of the handgun.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal typehandgun support including two handgun engaging members for looselyreceiving portions of the handgun and whereby the gun is retained in itsuse position by means of the fingers of the user.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a handgunsupport including two spaced-apart elements into which two portions ofthe handgun are nestled and provided with a rearwardly disposedextensible section pivotally attached to the handgun engaging portion topermit collapsing of the device when not in use.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consistsin the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the handgun support of the presentinvention as it appears in the condition of use;

FIG. 2 is a top plan of the handgun support of the present invention andillustrates, by means of broken lines, the alternate or non-usecollapsed position of the forward portion of the handgun support;

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged side elevation of the present invention andincludes the illustration of a handgun and the operators hand as theywould appear during firing of the gun;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view and illustrates the constructionof the rear saddle and forward steady rest of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the handgun support in the folded orcollapsed condition;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal transverse sectional view through the upperportion of the rear saddle of the handgun support; and I FIG. 7 is atransverse sectional view taken along the lines 77 of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawing, the handgun support of the presentinvention, as will be seen most clearly in FIG. 1, includes a forwardcradle assembly, generally designated 1, which is pivotally connected,such as by a hinge pin 2, to a central section generally designated 3,from which projects rearwardly a rear extension section 4.

Of primary consideration is the forward cradle assembly 1, theconstruction of which will be initially described, and it should beappreciated that the concept proposed by this assembly may be combinedwith any of several central and rear extension sections to provideadequate rigid contact with the shoulder of the user. The forward cradleassembly includes two important handgun-engaging elements, namely, therear saddle 5 and the forward steady rest 6. As shown in FIG. 1, therear saddle 5 is slightly inclined forwardly, and likewise slightlycurved to provide a configuration approximating that of the hand grip ofmost handguns, while a review of FIGS. 4 and 6 clearly shows thegrip-receiving cavity 7 thus formed by the two side flanges 88 extendingforwardly from the rear of the saddle This saddle is supported in arelatively fixed manner by any suitable means such as the rigid saddleplate 9 which may comprise a metal bar or rod, embedded within the rearportion of the saddle at the time of manufacture, and extends from theupper portion of the saddle to connect with a cradle top arm 10. Thebottom of the saddle plate 9 will be seen most clearly from FIG. 4 toextend downwardly from the saddle 5 and thus project forwardly toprovide a plate 11 rigidly connected to the cradle base arm 12. Theplate 11 serves to provide support for a suitable recoil pad 13 whichwill be seen to be disposed immediately beneath the cavity 7 formed bythe rear saddle 5.

The rear portion of the top arm extends towards the area of the hingepin 2 and connects with the rear portion of the base arm 12, while thisbase arm 12 extends in a forward direction beyond the front of therecoil pad 13 in an upward and arcuate manner terminating in a free end14 at which point the forward steady rest 6 is rigidly attached. It willbe understood that the exact composition of both the saddle 5 and steadyrest 6 is not critical, since any suitable semi-rigid material may beutilized such as hard rubber which will provide limited resilience, andlike wise the exact manner of attaching the exterior form of the steadyrest 6 to the free end 14 of the base arm 12 is not too critical. Onesuch manner of this attachment is shown in FIG. 7 wherein it will beseen that the steady rest 6 includes an inner form 15 carried by asleeve 16 attached to the free end 14 of the base arm. It will beappreciated that the form 15 may be split, as may be the outer resilientcovering, in which case these components may be attached to the sleeve16 and retained thereon by means of a suitable separable fastener 17.

From a review of FIG. 7 it will be seen that the forward steady restprovides a centrally disposed peripheral cavity 18 which islongitudinally aligned with the forwardly facing cavity 7 of the rearsaddle 5 and the steady rest 6 is positioned such that, when a handgungrip is nestled within the cavity 7 of the saddle 5 with its buttresting upon the pad 13, the area of the handgun immediately forward ofthe trigger guard 19 will be nestled within the cavity 18 of the forwardsteady rest between the spacedapart side flanges 6a6a thereof.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the handgun H, althoughcradled at two points by means of the saddle and steady rest,nevertheless is in no way rigidly confined or attached to any portion ofthe support device, and, from FIG. 3, it will be seen that the fingersof the operator as they are wrapped about the saddle 5 and grip 20provides the only rigid interlock between the revolver H and the handgunsupport of the present invention. By providing a suflicient height tothe saddle '5 and thus a corresponding height to the forward portion ofthe top arm 10, a hand access or opening 21 is thereby provided betweenthe top arm 10 and base arm 12 serving to readily admit the hand of theoperator, as shown in FIG. 3, to permit a normal engagement of the gungrip.

The construction of the remaining portion of the handgun support to therear of the cradle assembly 1 will now be described. The central section3 includes a base plate 22 and a pair of slide tubes 2323 located alongthe top and bottom edges of the base plate 22. Cooperating with thecentral section 3 is the rear extension section 4 having a slide plate24, of a slightly lesser height than the base plate 22, and a pair ofslide rods 2525 disposed opposite the top and bottom edges of the slideplate 24 and adapted to move telescopically within the aforedescribedslide tubes 23 of the central section 3. The rear portion of theextension section 4 is provided with a shoulder plate 26 and, by meansof the relative movement afforded between the sections 3 and 4, it willbe seen that the present handgun support may be adjusted to accommodatethe physical characteristics of the particular user, it being arelatively simple maneuver to axially displace the extension 4 withrespect to the central section 3- in order to achieve the proper length,after which the fastener device 27 which cooperates with the elongatedslot 28 in the slide plate 24 is tightened to interlock the central andrear sections.

Another feature of the handgun support of the present invention is thepivotal attachment of the forward cradle assembly 1 to the centralsection 3 such that the handgun support may be folded to an even morecompact dimension than that possible merely by the collapse of theextension section 4 with respect to the central section 3.

As shown most clearly in FIG. 2 of the drawing, the rear of the cradleassembly 1 is provided with a forward hinge flange 29 juxtaposed a rearhinge flange 30 on the forward portion of the central section 3. Asviewed in this figure, the two referenced hinge flanges project normalto the remainder of the cradle assembly and central section and thesetwo sections are retained in longitudinal alignment by means of a nut 31engaging the threaded shank of a bolt 32 extending from the hinge flange30 through the hinge flange 29. In order to permit sufiicient clearanceto manipulate the nut 31 a suitable cut-out 33 is provided in the cradleassembly 1 immediately forward of the hinge flange 29. It will thusfollow that, upon removal of the nut 31, the two hinge flanges 29 and 30may be pivoted with respect to one another about the hinge pin 2 in thedirection indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2, so that the handgun supportmay be folded or collapsed as shown in FIG. 5 of the drawing.

I claim:

1. A handgun support including a forward cradle assembly at one end anda body-engaging member at the opposite end, a central sectionintermediate said assembly and member, said cradle assembly having arear saddle adapted to engage the hand grip of a handgun, and a steadyrest on said assembly disposed forwardly of said saddle adapted toengage a handgun immediately forward of the trigger guard.

2. A handgun support according to claim 1 wherein said cradle assemblyincludes a base arm, the bottom of said saddle rigidly attached to saidbase arm, said arm extending forwardly and upwardly from said saddle,and said steady rest attached to the free end of said base arm.

3. A handgun support according to claim 1 wherein said saddle includes apair of spaced-apart side flanges defining a forwardly facing cavitytherebetween for the reception of a handgun grip.

4. A handgun support according to claim 3 including a horizontallydisposed recoil pad mounted in said as sembly adjacent the bottom ofsaid saddle.

5. A handgun support according to claim 2 including a top arm extendingforwardly from a point adjacent said central section and connected tothe upper portion of said saddle, whereby an access opening is definedbetween said saddle, base arm, and top arm permitting a users hand tograsp a handgun grip disposed within said saddle.

6. A handgun support according to claim 1 wherein said steady restincludes a pair of spaced-apart side flanges defining a cavitytherebetween for the reception of a handgun immediately forward of thetrigger guard.

7. A handgun support according to claim 1 including a hinge jointbetween said cradle assembly and said central section whereby saidcradle assembly may be laterally pivoted substantially to overlie saidcentral section, and fastener means adjacent said hinge joint to permitlocking of said assembly and section in longitudinal alignment.

8. A handgun support according to claim 1 including adjustment meansbetween said body engaging member and said central section to permitcustomizing of said support, said means including a slide plateoverlapping said central section, and fastener means passing throughsaid central section and plate operable to selectively lock said centralsection and plate together.

9. A handgun support according to claim 8 including alignment meansconnecting said slide plate and central section, said alignment meansincluding a slide rod on said adjustment means adjacent said slide plateand a slide tube on said central section for telescopically receivingsaid slide rod.

10. A handgun support according to claim 9 including a pair of saidslide rods and slide tubes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, PrimaryExaminer C. T. JORDAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

